Mobile computing devices are becoming increasingly popular in modern society. Most adults and teenagers in the United States (and abroad) now own at least one cellular phone device, and optionally various alternative or supplemental portable computing devices such as a tablet computer, a music player device, a mixed-media playback device, a watch device, a mobile hotspot device, a health monitoring device, etc. With the advent of this increasing popularity, mobile device manufacturers are now fabricating and assembling millions of duplicate computing devices to accommodate an exponentially increasing demand for devices that showcase new hardware features and other advertised technological advancements.
As mobile device manufacturers produce millions of devices in tandem, many of these devices will be subject to the rigors of daily use by consumers. Therefore, it is important for these manufactures to design and fabricate durable hardware and electronic components that can withstand impact events. For example, during a drop event, a mobile device can potentially become deformed or destroyed by various hardware components (e.g., external or internal hardware components) shifting, fracturing, tearing, or shattering, in response to an impact force that is exerted at an external surface of the device when the device hits a rigid surface (e.g., concrete, asphalt, wood, tile, brick, ceramic, linoleum, etc.).
At present, the primary focus of impact-resistant hardware design for mobile devices is directed to the external surface hardware of a device, without consideration of the vast majority of the physical structures and components of the device, which reside within the housing or combined housings of a portable electronic device. In this regard, much focus has been placed on display glass and shell durability in vacuum, and therefore, impact events routinely damage internal hardware of a mobile device without substantially affecting the appearance and external functionality of the device.